Thursday, May 5

The second lazy start in as many days was a clear indication that the holiday was beginning to wind up. Although there were three days left the poignancy was beginning to creep in, especially when I realised that this would be my last long distance bus ride. The route taken by the bus wasn't as pretty as the leg from Sao Paulo to Paraty, but I did notice a lot of rigs and tankers and took them as evidence of the growing oil interests in the region.

Due to last minute planning (another example of the downsides to being free), I booked the cheapest hotel I could find in what I thought was central Rio, something I hoped would make life easier the next day. It turns out that "Central Station" doesn't quite imply that. Although the area was very seedy it was actually quite refreshing to not be steered away from the less desirable parts of a new city as well as to finally be able to use local buses instead of taxis.

After checking in I headed off to the Covacado for the obligatory ritual pilgrimage to Christ the Redeemer. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side again and so the views weren't as spectacular as they should have been. I got some decent shots anyway though.

With the main attraction out of the way I decided to call it an early night and headed back to the hotel in order to prepare for Jummah the next day, while all the time ignoring the fact that I was in the final straight home.